Tu B’Shevat Basics
This holiday, often celebrated with fruits, wine, and tree planting, is known as the ‘New Year for Trees' or by kids as the 'Birthday of the Trees'.
What is Tu B'Shvat?
According to the Mishnah, the school of Hillel eventually set the New Year for Trees on this day in Shevat.
What is the fifteenth of Shevat?
The festive Tu B’Shevat seder, with its symbolic fruits and four cups of wine, is patterned after this well-known ritual meal.
What is the Passover seder?
Today, one of the most common ways to celebrate Tu B’Shevat is by engaging in this eco-friendly activity.
What is tree planting?
In the Hebrew calendar, ‘Tu’ denotes the 15th day. On this month’s 15th day, Tu B’Shevat is observed.
What is Shevat?
Before becoming a festive celebration, Tu B’Shevat originally served as a legal marker for determining a tree’s…
What is its fruit-bearing age?
In the 16th century, the mystical community of this Galilean city revitalized Tu B’Shevat with innovative practices such as the festive seder.
What is Tzfat?
As communities focus on our shared planetary future, Tu B’Shevat events today frequently highlight action on this global issue.
What is climate change?
Tu B’Shevat is sometimes compared to this modern secular holiday focused on the environment.
What is Earth Day?
his law in Leviticus forbids eating fruit from a tree during its first three years, setting the stage for Tu B’Shevat’s origins.
What is orlah?
During the mystical seder, the four cups of wine are said to represent the progression of the seasons—from this light hue to a deeper one.
What is from white to red?
This innovative concept, coined by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, extends kosher dietary laws to include considerations of ethical sourcing and environmental impact.
What is Eco-Kashrut?
This phase of the moon graces the night sky on Tu B’Shevat, marking the New Year for Trees.
What is the full moon?
This principle, derived from Deuteronomy 20:19, warns against wasteful destruction and underpins Jewish environmental ethics.
What is bal tashchit?
In Kabbalistic tradition, this archetypal symbol, celebrated during the Tu B’Shevat seder, represents the structure of divine emanation and the interconnectedness of all creation.
What is the Tree of Life?
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explained that while one biblical verse grants humanity ‘mastery’ over nature, another calls for this quality—emphasizing our duty to serve and protect the Earth.
What is stewardship?